Detachable heel protector for shoes



April 13,1937. w H, BUTLER AL 2,076,978

DETACHABLE HEEL PROTECTOR FOR SHOES Filed July 7, 1956 A f Z0 Z9Qwuwvbcws Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED sTAi-Es ztiaa s PATENT ()FFICWilliam H. Butler, Forest Gate, London, and David S. Cooper, Manor Park,London, England Application July 7, 1936, Serial No. 89,436 In GreatBritain October 1'7, 1935- 5 Claims This invention relates to shoes andparticularly to detachable heel pads or lifts adapted to be applied tothe heels of boots or shoes to thereby protect the heel.

The general object of the invention is to provide a heel pad, lift orprotector which may be readily applied to the heels of boots or shoes,or readily removed therefrom, if necessary.

Another object is toprovide a device of this character which. includes ametallic: keeper plate adapted to be held: to the heel of the shoe by ascrew or like instrumentality and a rubber or composition.protectoror'lift: which is adapted to be readily engaged with or:disengaged from. the metallic: plate but. which,. when in. engagement;is held firmly and. rigidly in. place until manu-- ally disengaged.

A further. object: is' to provide a. construction of this character in:which the composition or rubber lift or protector is provided withv apairof embedded spring tongues and the metallic plate is-provided withslots through which the spring: tongues: may pass and with which. thetongues interlock to hold the lift or protector in place. 7

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

In, the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view throughla shoe heeLthekeeper plate and a detachable lift. constructed in accordance with our'invention;

Figure ZIiS a section: on the line 2-2' of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the detachable Figure 4 is an undersideplan view of the keeper plate;

Figure 5 is a section through the-protector or lift showing amodification of the attaching clip;

Figure 6 is a sectional view as in Figure 1 but showing the protector orlift in position as it is being applied.

Referring to the drawing, l0 designates a light metallic keeper platewhich may be cast or stamped and which is formed with a rounded outorperipheral edge H and a straight breast edge l2. This plate on itsinside face is provided with the upstanding prongs l3 and between theseprongs with a countersunk aperture M for the reception of a screw itwhich, as shown in Figure 1, holds the plate upon the heel A.

The plate In is provided on each side of the aperture l4 andequi-distantly therefrom with the laterally and upwardly inclined slotsIt, the

inside face of the plate at the outer corner of each slot being slightlyrecessed at ll, the recess preferably extending downward; and. laterallyand then upward,v as shown in Figure l. The keeper plate also upon: itslower face is formed with a 5 tapered recess l8 extending inward from:the breast edge l2, the roof of this recess being. inclined downward andaway from the heel edge, as shown in. Figure 2.

In Figure 1=,. the lift, protector or pad lit, which may be. formed ofrubber or composition or any material suitable for the purpose, is shownas having embedded: therein a clip, this; clip being as'wide' as the:length of the slots l6 and being of metal. The clipis designated 20. andthe extremities of. this clip in Figure 1- are bent overuponthemselves;. as at it, and then extended upward and laterally at 22 toform spring tongues, the extremities of: these tongues being angularlyflanged or bent to form the lips 23. These 0 tongues 22. areadapted tobe forced through the slotsltfiandi thelips or hook-like. portions 23will engage within the recesses H, as shownin Figure 1, to thusinterlock with the plate t0 and hold the pad: or protector l9 firmly inplace. 25

The body 28: of the clip is preferably provided with apertures 24through which thefmaterial of the pad or protector [9 passes to thusfirmly engage. the embedded clip' with the material of the lift or. pad:Ill; In- Figure fig we have illustrated a modification of the spring.clip inwhich the body 20 is embedded and: provided with the aperture 24;as previously described, but in this case, the extremities of the body20 are extended directly upward and laterally and not rebent, as at 21-in Figure I, the extremitiesof the portions 22* being bent to form smallhooks 23 as previously described, In this modification the resilienttongues 22 engage within the inclined slot l6 in precisely the samemanner as heretofore described; and the hooks-23 will engage in therecesses- H as-heretofore described;

In the use=of this device, themetallic plate- II] is. secured to theheel A by means of the screw I5 and then the resilient tongues of theclip are retracted and inserted into and pushed up through the slots I 6until the hooked extremities 23 or 23 engage within the recesses ll, theouter ends of these resilient tongues snapping into the recesses ll,thereby firmly securing the pad, lift or protector l9 in place.

In order to detach the member I9 from the plate ill, a small screwdriver or other suitable implement of this character is inserted intothe tapered recess l8 between the plate and the element l9 and may beused to pry the member l9 away from the plate so that one of theresilient tongues of the clip is free from its engaging recess, as shownin Figure 6, whereupon the pad or protector I9 is readily removed. Thepad or protector I!) may be readily engaged with the plate ID by forcingone of the tongues up through one of the slots until it snaps intoplace, then forcing the pad against the plate ID, which will cause theother resilient tongue to be forced inward into the corresponding slotI6 and eventually snapped into place, or a screw driver may be insertedbetween the member l9 and the plate to force this last named tongue intoposition within the corresponding slot l6 and then the member [9 beforced upward into place.

It will be seen that the advantages of this construction are many. Oncethe metallic plate is fastened to the shoe, it is obvious that from timeto time worn pads or lifts l9 can be readily removed and new pads orlifts put in place thereof, and if the pads are worn down and it isimpossible to immediately replace the pad with a new one, then themetallic plate will protect the main heel piece until a new pad can beput in place. It is obvious also that the pads of a pair of shoes may bereversed from time to time, thus preventing an unequal wearing down andkeeping the uppers in better shape. The plates may be readily fitted tonew shoes or to old shoes and obviously may be applied to shoes havingheels of any cross-sectional area or height. Spare pads can be readilycarried so that at any time the pads may be renewed. The combination ofthe metal plate and the rubber or composition pad l9 will give adistinctive finish to a shoe and the pads may be made in various colorsto harmonize with the colors of the uppers or be of a different colortherefrom. While we have illustrated certain details of construction andarrangement of parts, we wish it understood that we are not limited tothe exact construction shown except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:--

1. A detachable heel protector for shoes, including a metallic keeperplate having a central countersunk aperture through which a screw may bepassed to hold the plate in place upon the shoe, the keeper plate beingformed with a pair of upwardly and laterally inclined slots, the outeredge of each slot on the inner face of the keeper plate opening into adownwardly and outwardly inclined recess, and a heel lift having a pairof laterally inclined tongues embedded therein and projecting beyond theinner surface of the lift, said tongues being resilient and being urgedby said resilience away from each other, the extremities of the tonguesbeing formed with hooks detachably engaged in said recesses.

2. A detachable heel protector for shoes, including a metallic keeperplate having a central countersunk aperture through which a screw may bepassed to hold the plate in place upon the shoe, the keeper plate beingformed with a pair of upwardly and laterally inclined slots, the outeredge of each slot on the inner face of the keeper plate opening into adownwardly and outwardly inclined recess, and a heel lift having ametallic clip embedded therein, the extremities of the clip being bentto extend beyond the inner surface of the lift to form resilienttongues, the tongues being urged outward by their resilience and havinghook-shaped extremities detachably engaged within the recesses of theinner face of the plate.

3. A detachable heel protector for shoes, including a metallic keeperplate having a central countersunk aperture through which a screw may bepassed to hold the plate in place upon the shoe, the keeper plate beingformed with a pair of upwardly and laterally inclined slots, the outeredge of each slot on the inner face of the keeper plate opening into adownwardly and outwardly inclined recess, and a heel lift having ametallic clip embed therein, the clip consisting of a strip of metalextending transversely across the lift, then rebent upon itself at itsends and then extended upward and laterally beyond the inner face of thelift to form tongues, said tongues being resiliently urged away fromeach other, the extremities of the tongues being formed with hooksinserted into and detachably engaged with said recesses in the keeperplate.

l. A detachable heel protector for shoes, including a metallic keeperplate having a central countersunk aperture through which a screw may bepassed to hold the plate in place upon the shoe, the keeper plate beingformed with a pair of upwardly and laterally inclined slots, the outeredge of each slot on the inner face of the keeper plate 1' opening intoa downwardly and outwardly inclined recess, and a heel lift having apair of laterally inclined tongues embedded therein and,

projecting beyond the inner surface of the lift, said tongues beingresilient and being urged by said resilience away from each other, theextremities of the tongues being formed with hooks detachably engaged insaid recesses, the keeper plate having on its lower face a recessextending inward from the edge of the plate whereby to permit animplement to be inserted between the lift and the plate and disengagethe plate and lift.

5. A detachable heel protector for shoes, including a metallic keeperplate having means whereby it may be held in place upon the heel of ashoe, the keeper plate being formed with a pair of upwardly andlaterally inclined slots, the outer edge of each slot on the inner faceof the plate opening into a downwardly and outwardly inclined recess,and a heel lift having a pair of laterally inclined tongues embeddedtherein and projecting beyond the inner surface of the lift, saidtongues being resilient and being urged by said resilience away fromeach other, the extremities of the tongues being formed with hooksdetachably engaged in said recess.

WILLIAM H. BUTLER. DAVID S. COOPER.

